Nation news briefs

A Nebraska woman has sold a three-year-old McDonald's Chicken McNugget that resembles President George Washington for $8,100 on eBay.

The Sioux City Journal in Iowa says bidding ended just after 11:30 a.m. Monday.

Rebekah Speight of Dakota City sold the McNugget to raise money for a drive to raise $15,000 and send 50 children to summer church camp in Sioux City.

Speight says her children didn't eat the chicken during a McDonald's visit three years ago. She was about to toss it, then spotted Washington's resemblance. Speight stashed the McNugget in her freezer.

eBay had temporarily taken down the auction last month because it violated rules regulating expired food.

She later received an email saying the site was "willing to make exceptions to help your cause."

MINN. SCHOOL DISTRICT SETTLES BULLYING LAWSUITS: COON RAPIDS, Minn. (AP) — Top officials with Minnesota's largest school are welcoming the settlement of two lawsuits over a policy that was criticized for failing to protect students from bullying.

Superintendent Dennis Carlson of the Anoka-Hennepin School District told reporters Monday night the district will be working with the U.S. Department of Justice, and that their efforts to combat harassment and bullying related to sexual orientation will result in lasting change.

The vote to approve the settlement was 5-1. The district's insurance carrier will pay the students a total of $270,000.

School board member Kathy Tingelstad resigned after casting the lone no vote. She says the settlement sets a bad precedent.

TEXAS NURSE'S BLEACH INJECTION DEATHS TRIAL BEGINS: LUFKIN, Texas (AP) — An East Texas nurse violated the trust of a noble profession when she injected kidney dialysis patients with toxic bleach, killing five of them and injuring five others, a prosecutor said as the woman's murder trial began Monday.

Kimberly Saenz, 38, faces a possible death sentence if convicted of capital murder in the April 2008 deaths.

Saenz stood in court holding her hands behind her back as Angelina County District Attorney Clyde Herrington read the six-count indictment against her. Her lawyer, Ryan Deaton, answered "Not guilty, your honor," on her behalf when the judge asked for a plea after each count.

Herrington told jurors in his opening remarks that evidence would show there was bleach in the IV dialysis lines of victims who were being treated at a DaVita dialysis clinic in Lufkin, about 125 miles northeast of Houston.

"The defendant in this case is the one that put it there," he said.

He said investigators also found Internet searches on Saenz's computer about bleach poisoning in blood and whether bleach could be detected in dialysis lines.

"The profession of nursing is one of the most respected," Herrington told jurors. "Health care providers devote their career to those who are sick and ill ... But involves a great deal of trust. And if that trust is violated, very serious things can happen."

Saenz was charged a year after the Lufkin clinic closed for about two months following a rash of illnesses and deaths.

Emergency crews had been called to the clinic many as 30 times that April, including seven for cardiac problems, and made at least 19 runs. Four people had died.

NAVY TO STEP UP BREATHALYZER TESTS OF SAILORS: NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The Navy soon will begin giving Breathalyzer tests to many of its sailors before they report to work aboard a ship under a new program that will spread to the Marine Corps later this year.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced the plan Monday during a rare "all hands" call from aboard the USS Bataan at Naval Station Norfolk.

Mabus' comments were broadcast to sailors and Marines worldwide, who were able to submit questions to him via email and each service's Facebook page. During the question and answer session, Mabus was not asked about the Breathalyzer tests, which are already in use aboard submarines in the Pacific Northwest.

PRAYER BANNER AT RI HIGH SCHOOL TAKEN DOWN: CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) — Officials at a Rhode Island public high school have taken down a prayer banner that a federal judge ordered removed.

The state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued over the banner's constitutionality, says the display at Cranston West High School was permanently removed.

Executive Director Steven Brown says the ACLU has agreed to allow more time to settle the issue of legal fees. ACLU lawyers who sued on behalf of 16-year-old Jessica Ahlquist have asked the court to order the city to pay $173,000.

Cranston schools superintendent Peter Nero tells The Providence Journal the banner is being stored in an undisclosed location.

The 550-strong British team has been advised by its top doctor to avoid shaking hands with rivals and visiting dignitaries at the London Games this summer.

The reason: Olympic germs could cost Olympic gold.

And while etiquette experts fear the host country could look rude, the British Olympic Association is far more concerned with illness spreading through the camp and thwarting the country's bid for glory.

Britain's minimum target is to match its fourth-place finish at the Beijing Olympics four years ago when it brought home 47 medals.

And BOA chief medical officer Dr. Ian McCurdie believes strong personal hygiene could prove to be the difference between success and failure.

Asked if the traditional British greeting of a handshake should be off-limits, Dr. McCurdie said: "I think, within reason, yes."

"I think that is not such a bad thing to advise," he added. "The difficulty is when you have got some reception and you have got a line of about 20 people you have never met before who you have got to shake hands with."

DETROIT-AREA WOMAN STALKED BY AGGRESSIVE TURKEY: COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — An Oakland County woman says she's become a prisoner on her own property, stalked and harassed by a 25-pound turkey.

Edna Geisler calls the foul bird "Godzilla." The 69-year-old said that the turkey wanders near her Commerce Township property each day from nearby woods. She recently couldn't get to her front door after a trip to the grocery store.

"I have to go to the post office at 6 o'clock in the morning to avoid him," said Geisler, who has been bumped and clawed.

She has tried changing her schedule but this turkey is no dummy. A friend, Rick Reid, said the turkey went after him, too, when he opened the door on his minivan.

"He tried to come right in the door," Reid said. "He bit me on the elbow."

Indeed, a video posted online by the Free Press shows Godzilla roaming the grounds like they're his own. State wildlife expert Tim Payne said adult turkeys are known to aggressively defend their territory, although most fear people.